Policing the Police

The mayoral candidates talk about community policing—but not how the city can pay for it.

Charlie Hales says he’s crossed paths with the Portland
police during his campaign for mayor—and he hasn’t always liked what
he’s seen.

He talks of a recent
weapons stop he witnessed at Southeast 162nd Avenue and Stark Street
where six cop cars responded to one “kid with a gun.”With such a heavy response by police, Hales says, “questions come up.”

Hales also tells a
story about walking in Holladay Park with neighborhood advocates who
were trying to bring a positive on-the-ground presence. Hales watched a
patrol car drive onto the park’s walkway “at speed,” he says,
“scattering pedestrians and families.”

“What the hell?” Hales says. “What’s going on here?”

Hales, who’s assumed
the role of front-runner in the mayor’s race, has made challenging the
Portland Police Bureau’s status quo a recurring part of his stump
speech, even at the risk of second-guessing what officers were doing in
specific—even dangerous—situations.

It’s a provocative stance for a mayoral candidate hoping to oversee the police and push them toward community policing.

His opponent, state
Rep. Jefferson Smith (D-East Portland), has also talked about connecting
the police more closely to citizens. His proposals are more detailed
than Hales’, but not as far-reaching.

“Sometimes citizens
see officers doing things and they don’t know the reason why,” Turner
says. “They come to conclusions based on what they see, rather than
giving the officer the benefit of the doubt.”

Hales says Portland’s
community policing reached its zenith under former Chief Charles Moose,
who ran the bureau from 1993 to 1999. Since then, the bureau has
struggled with its image as high-profile shootings and excessive-force
cases have mounted.

The U.S. Department
of Justice last month criticized the bureau’s “pattern and practice” of
excessive force against the mentally ill.

Smith and Hales have
largely supported the reforms called for by the DOJ. While Hales lauds
some officers for their close ties to the neighborhoods they serve, he
says most city dwellers don’t view the police as an open and inviting
presence.

“We have room for improvement there, to say the least,” he says.

Smith had the police
union’s endorsement until Oct. 11, when the group yanked its support
following reports that Smith hadn’t told the truth about a 1993
misdemeanor assault charge for striking a woman at a college party.

Smith says he won’t
rely on more foot patrols—often a key component of community
policing—but rather more comprehensive community-based reform.

He says the city can
improve its training at a new facility (approved by the City Council in
March); create a volunteer MAX line watch; and form partnerships with
nonprofits—reforms Smith says can be done “for a relatively low price
point.”

In an organization that often makesmajor
changes as quickly as a tree leaks sap, Hales says the push for
community policing will have to come from the top—the mayor and the
police chief.

Chief Mike Reese
nearly ran for mayor last fall, only to back off in the wake of the
chaos stemming from shutting down the Occupy Portland camps.

Hales
won’t say if he will insist on a new chief. “I want to give Chief Reese
every opportunity to succeed,” he says. When asked if that sounds like
Reese is on probation, Hales pauses and adds, “Aren’t we all?”

But Hales’ choice of
advisers is telling: He tops his list with former Chief Rosie Sizer,
whom Reese replaced after Mayor Sam Adams fired her in 2010 for
criticizing his police budget. Sizer, who now lives in Bend, couldn’t be
reached for comment.

Smith says he won’t
discuss replacing Reese. He says the police chief’s job has seen too
much turnover: four chiefs in the past 10 years.

“I’m not too hasty in
ousting a chief who has the ability and commitment to address the
challenges, even if it takes more than a year,” Smith says. (Reese
declined to comment for this story.)

Turner, the union
president, says Hales’ talk about community policing is just a
“political buzzword” for “old-school” tactics police have practiced for
decades. He says budget cuts have made those efforts less effective, and
the city needs to increase police staffing by 25 percent.

“It’s not reinventing the wheel,” Turner says.

Hales has yet to
explain how he will pay for a shift in policing strategy that will
require a more labor-intensive approach and more money. He hasn’t said
whether he’d spend more on police or find savings in the bureau’s $167
million budget.

Vancouver, Wash.,
created a neighborhood police officer program about five years ago.
Neighborhoods loved the change, but police cut their property crimes
unit to pay for it.

Still,
cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Boston have won awards from
the U.S. Department of Justice for their community policing programs.

“It starts with who
we hire, and how we train and how we assign work,” Hales says, “and
what’s considered prestigious in the bureau.”

"In the low usage areas, we found that our vehicles sit idle four times longer, ultimately affecting overall vehicle availability for the Portland membership base, as well as parking for the Portland community."

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